How soon to book for NYC?

PamperME1

We're planning a honeymoon at the end of Oct or Nov 2012 to New York City, so how far in advance should we book the flight/hotel?  In the last 10 days, the price has come down about $800 total.  We get married in March 2012.  Any words of wisdom for a NYC honeymoon would be helpful, too. Thanks!

lolson1215

Hotel-Book SOON if you plan on staying in a popular/famous high end hotel. Fall, especially October, is a popular time to visit. Have fun

daria24

It all depends on which week you are looking at-if you are going to be in NYC around Thanksgiving you need to book WELL in advance, it's a very popular time of year. Thanksgiving-New Year's is the busiest time for NYC hotels, it's also harder to get theatre tickets, dinner reservations etc on short notice. If you are looking at October/early November, it's not very busy and it will largely depend on how much you have your heart set on a particular hotel, particular location, particular kind of room, etc. If you are just concerned about price, I would wait a few more weeks and see how much more the prices change. If they rise, they will probably fall again. I've booked rooms less than a month in advance and gotten great prices.  Also, I HIGHLY recommend staying outside of Time's Square. It's crowded, noisy, over priced and you will get a much more authentic "New York" experience staying below 23rd street. There are some great new hotels in Brooklyn Heights that are well regarded. 

As far as what to do, my best advice is just to walk around and explore, there's so many hidden places that you will stumble upon. I've lived here for 6 years and I still find new things every week. I highly recommend Watson Adventures, which organizes scavenger hunts all throughout the city-some are neighborhood hunts, some are inside museums. Its a great way to discover new things and see places you would never notice. 

One of my favorite things to do is walk over the Brooklyn bridge (walking from Manhattan to Brooklyn)-there's a famous pizza place (Grimaldis) and ice cream place (Brooklyn ice cream factory) under the bridge. 

It's a total tourist thing to do, but the full circle tour on the Circle Line boat is well worth it, even to a New Yorker. You get a totally different perspective of the city viewing it from the water. 

Explore the flea markets/food markets-especially Brooklyn Flea and the Union Square Greenmarket. 

Unless you are trying to see Book of Mormon, you can get discount tickets to just about any Broadway show so don't pay full price! Between TKTS and a bunch of online sites, there is always a discount ticket available for 25-50% off. 

Good luck!

BURGH2NYC

I live in New York and here is what I recommend to you if you want to experience nice things and save some money too.  Sign up for Groupon and LivingSocial and keep your eye on offers for hotel and restaurant deals - they have these things all the time!  You might be a little far out from your honeymoon date to book any of these things now, but if you start watching these pages now, you'll have a better idea what's out there by the time you want to actually choose.

I would agree with whoever said to NOT stay in the Times Square area - it's noisy, crowded, and just obnoxious in general.  The restaurants there are overpriced and the food is total crap, a lot of the time.  

Here's a great site:  www.menupages.com  I use it all the time to find new restaurants for myself and my boss.  You can read ratings, check out the menues and sort by food type, price range and neighborhood.

Here's a little trick for you.  If you go to a restaurant and the waiter asks you if you are going to a show that night SAY YES even if you are not.  This way you get the quickest service and are not put in the back of the line.  The waiter will always ask you Which show??  They are trying to be nice (usually) but be sure to have an answer in mind.  "Jersey Boys" is safe.  

By they way, Jersey Boys is a fantastic show.  ;-)

Here's another trick for you - if you can buy tickets in person in New York, or have someone buy them for you at the box office, you will save a lot on the "fees" ticketmaster and telecharge charge people from out of town.  Those fees can really add up and you don't pay them when you buy the tickets in person.

Another great site is www.broadwaybox.com  You can get some nice discount deals on shows there.

If you plan to take a romantic carraige ride in Central Park don't just opt for the 20 minute ride.  I hate to say it, but if you want a nicer ride through the prettier part of the park, you have to pay more.  I did the shorter ride with my Mom some years ago and we were surprised how short that trip ended up being.  It was a little disappointing.

Hope that helps.

One more thing - for the luvvagod, please try to avoid eating in chain restaurants here.  There are hundreds of wonderful restaurants in New York - check them out!